


May&Piper One-Shots

by 2nerd4this



Category: Agents of SHIELD - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sad Piper, Soft may, mama may
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-07-31 10:36:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20113720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2nerd4this/pseuds/2nerd4this
Summary: I stan May&Piper, so a couple scenes highlighting their relationship.-Includes the story previously titled "Forgiveness (Can you imagine?)"-





	1. Forgiveness (Can you imagine?)

**Author's Note:**

> May talks to Piper in her cell after she betrayed the team.  
Angst, soft May, and some fluff

Agent Piper had more than willingly agreed to be put in containment after the team had returned to the Lighthouse, but that didn't stop her from wishing she could be out there with the rest of the team. Actually, she corrected herself, it was just the team. She wasn't part of that anymore. They had all disappeared to who knows where and she was left to fend for herself and defend Shield. When General Hale had found her, she had no choice but to tell her everything and draw Coulson's team into a trap. It wasn't her fault that it was all a trick and Hale wanted them dead. 

And yet, the guilt and shame was still there. In the end, it was her fault that YoYo was hurt. So she hadn't protested when Coulson showed her to a holding room and left her there until further notice. As she sat there on the cot, she came to the conclusion that this was probably for the best. She wasn't sure that she would have been able to survive the disappointed and ashamed looks on their faces, especially Coulson and May.

She hadn't made eye contact with May since the attack. She really didn't think she could deal with what she would see in her eyes. Piper had been absolutely ecstatic when she was asked to help take Hive down, and only the intensity of the mission had stopped her from going full fangirl mode when she learned that she would be working with the famed Calvary. 

Since then, Piper had been drafted to join May's SRIKE team, worked her way up to the older woman's most trusted agent, and had begun to gain her respect. By the time that the team had disappeared, Piper was the only member of the STRIKE team left and had formed a special relationship with many members of the team. The last thing Piper wanted to do was disappoint May, but she had and now she had to face the consequences.  
\-------

After a little while, Piper fell into a restless sleep, but in the end, only managed to get a few hours of rest before her anxiety had her pacing the small room again. Without a way to tell time, Piper estimated that it was a little past 5am. The base would probably be waking up soon and she would have to participate in some form of human interaction, which she was definitely not looking foreword to. Whoever brought her breakfast was sure to have that disappointed look in their eyes. The chances that Piper made it through a conversation with one of her former team members without crying was slim, and embarrassing herself was not on her agenda for the day, but it was unavoidable.

So, Piper continued her pacing for another couple hours, taking breaks only to sit on the cot and wring her hands. When she finally heard the door to this sector open, she turned her back to the window and hoped that whoever it was would respect her desire to be left alone. Of course, Piper had no such luck, and waited with baited breath as the person slid a tray through the slot. The lack of footsteps, as well as Piper's training, tipped her off that whoever it was had not left, but instead had leaned against the wall across from the window. 

"I'm not leaving until we have a discussion, so I suggest that you turn around." a soft, almost gentle voice announced. Piper's heart sank. Out of everyone who it could have been, this was definitely the worst. She didn't move.

"Piper. Please turn around. I'm not here to judge you, I just want to talk."  
Piper took a deep breath and slowly turned around, crossing her arms in front of her and suddenly taking a deep interest in her shoes, but turning around nonetheless. She braced herself for whatever May had in store. The younger agent couldn't hear any disappointment or anger in her superior's voice, but May was a trained spy. It was her job to not reveal her emotions. 

"I think you know that's not what I meant when I said turn around, but it will have to do." May shifted so that she was standing a few feet from the window, watching Piper intently. "Before we start, you should eat. Or at least sit down. I'm about to talk more than you've ever heard me talk before. And you've been up for a while. I've been watching the feed." Piper didn't move except to wrap her arms tighter around herself. She knew that she should act more professional when accepting a reprimand, but the guilt combined with May's off-puttingly kind tone caused Piper to lose any semblance of control over her emotions she had left. 

"Ok. Whatever you want." May took a deep breath and fixed her eyes on Piper's face, wanting to watch her reaction to her words. "Kid, listen. You can't sit here and beat yourself up over all this for forever. That's not why we put you in there. I know you, I know how guilty you are and how much you want to make it up to the team. That guilt and shame you feel is punishment enough, at least for me. You're going to help us take down Hale, and then, at least in my book, you'll have completely proven yourself and all will be forgotten. You're just in there until the team decides we can trust you again. So I'm not here to tell you all the things you did wrong and to make you feel bad. I'm here for two reasons. To get everything straightened out and to help you work through that guilt. I'm not saying you shouldn't feel guilty, cause I'm sorry kid, but you messed up bad. I'm saying you need help getting to a place where you can deal with that guilt in a healthy way. So, listen carefully, cause I'm reaching my daily word count limit." May smiled a little at her own joke. Her sense of humor always seemed to appear at the worst moments. Piper shifter her weight from foot to foot, still looking everywhere but at May.

"Sure I'm disappointed in you. You made a dumb mistake and I know I trained you better than that. You are better than that, Piper. And yeah, I'm upset. And angry. But not with you. Hale played you. You were alone, without any idea what had happened to your team, and responsible for the entirety of SHIELD. To top it all off, you were arrested for remaining loyal to a framed organization. No one is upset that you were captured. Even the most experienced agents would have struggled, evading capture from the US government alone, especially while trying to locate team members who disappeared into thin air. Piper. You did good. I'm not sure how long you lasted without getting caught, but it had to have been a while. I'm proud. When we first found you, I honestly couldn't believe that you were still free."

May took a breath. She looked at the girl in front of her, taking a second to reminisce on how far she had come in the past years. Piper had always been talented, but she always seemed to surprise her. 

"I wasn't." May wasn't sure she had heard the girl right, she was so quiet. 

"Hmm?" Piper sat down on the cot with a huff. 

"I wasn't still free. They got me. I couldn't.. I didn't. May, I just. I let them get me. And then I told them everything." The young agent rested her head in her hands. 

"Piper. Those were your orders. You were supposed to tell them everything. I mean, we had hoped that it would have been to someone a little more trustworthy, but you did the best you could with the circumstances. So I'm not mad at you. You did what you thought was best, and in the end, that's all we can ask for. Honestly Piper, when everything calms down and we all get a chance to really think it over, I know that we are all going to realize that, in the end, you didn't betray us. This team has endured so much betrayal, on so many levels, that it's hard for us to think about these things critically. We feel betrayed and we react harshly."  
May was now close to the glass, arms crossed and watching Piper intently. Piper hadn't moved.

"Did you know that I betrayed the team once? Phil shot me." Piper looked up, surprised. May nodded, glad to finally have gotten to the girl. 

"I was reporting to Fury without their knowledge and when the team realized we had a mole, I was the first suspect because of it. So Phil shot me. And put me in handcuffs. Eventually I was able to explain myself and all was forgiven, but I betrayed them. And then Ward betrayed us. Like, full out tried to murder the team betrayal. I think since then we have always been wary of who we trust, and once we do trust someone, it hurts even more when that person seemingly betrays us. You heard about when Bobbi and Mack turned out to be working for Gonzalez and the "Real SHIELD", right? That hurt. A lot. It reminded us all a little too much of Ward. Once I had a chance to think it over, I realized that they were just doing what they though was best for SHIELD. And then Daisy turned against us in defense of her family and the Afterlife. This team is no stranger to betrayal. And yet, save Ward, I have forgiven all of them. And you're no different. Piper. I forgive you." 

Silence fell over the two girls. It was obvious to May that Piper was trying her best not to cry. Piper had never stuck the older agent as particularly emotional. It was one of the many aspects of the young girl that reminded May of herself. The older agent weighed her options. She could continue her speech from out here or she could respond to the younger girl's vulnerability with some emotion of her own. Deciding on the latter, May quickly punched in the code and slipped into the cell, shutting the door behind her. She sat down next to Piper, the proximity only making the girl's muffled sobs more apparent. 

"May. How.... how? I... You guys could have died. She was going to kill you all and it's all my fault. And Elena... oh god." Piper's voice broke as she trailed off. She pulled her knees up to her chest and scooted back on the cot, leaning up against the wall. May sighed.

"Yeah. Your actions may not have been ill-intentioned but they had some pretty terrible consequences. The good news is, in the end, intentions mean more than consequences. The bad news is that the shock is still fresh. It's hard for us to think critically with all these emotions. Which is rich, coming from me. In all honesty, kid, I came down here prepared to have a very different conversation. By talking this through with you, well, to you, I was able to see a more logical side to it. I'm sure, in time, the rest of the team will be able to come to the same conclusion I have. That you are more than deserving of our forgiveness and that eventually you will be able to fully gain back our trust. Until they do, I suggest you just apologize profusely and promise to do whatever it takes to make it up the them."  
May layed a soft hand on the girl's foot. She seemed to relax slightly into the touch. Piper used the rest of her dwindling control over her emotions to nod slightly. 

"I am sorry, Agent May. Really, really sorry. I know that you trained me better than this, and I'll do everything I can to make this up to you. I promise I won't make the same mistake twice."  
May smiled slightly at her young ward, watching carefully as Piper struggled to respectfully maintain eye contact. 

"I forgive you Piper." May moved her hand to her knee and watched as the younger girl eyed her, somewhat suspiciously. 

"Can I give you a hug?" May muttered as she ran her hand up and down Piper's leg. Piper looked somewhat take aback, but she nodded hesitantly. May shifted so that her knees were almost touching Piper's feet and wrapped her arms around her. She tensed for a minute before relaxing into her mentor's embrace, resting her head on her shoulder. May smiled and began to run her fingers through Piper's short hair. 

They sat like that for a while, Piper crying silent tears and May pretending not to notice. Eventually Piper took a deep breath and pulled away, wiping her face and avoiding the older agent's gaze.

"Sorry. For breaking down like that. That was dumb, I..."

"Don't. Don't apologize for having emotions. Despite what some may believe, emotions do not make you any less of a good agent. Sometimes you just need to let it all out, and for some people, breaking down is the best way to do that. Just because I seem stone cold doesn't mean that you have to be, ok?" May leaned up against the wall next to Piper and gave her a pointed look. Nodding, Piper straightened her shirt and composed herself. May felt a surge of pride for her young trainee. Sometimes allowing yourself to be vulnerable was a sign of strength, and while that was not one of May's strong suits, she was glad that Piper was able to do that, not matter how embarrassed she might feel afterwards. 

"Ok kid. Here's what we're going to do. First, you're going to eat breakfast. Then I'm going to get you up to speed on our adventures through time and space while you give me the official debrief of whats happened here while we were gone. And by that time, it'll be time for lunch, so you will eat that. Finally, I'll go and harass Coulson to come and have an official discussion with you so that you can be released and join us in the hunt for Hale. Sound good?" May grabbed the tray from the table by the door and sat it on Piper's lap. 

"Yes ma'am." May gave the girl an exasperated look, but was relieved to hear a slight playfulness in her tone, a sign that she was returning to her old self. May smirked and leaned against the window. 

"Eat."


	2. Reading People (and maybe talking to them about it, that's yet to be decided)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper is sent on her first field mission since she "betrayed" the team. May teaches her an important lesson in the value of experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like this one nearly as much as the last one and I couldn't muster the strength to re-read it, so just ignore any typos please and thank you.
> 
> This also just completely ignores canon, so just go with it.

May prided herself in being able to read people. Whether it be an enemy combatant, a potential ally, or a teammate, she could almost always get a solid read on their feeling and intentions within moments of seeing them. In her experience, the only exceptions were the people that she had made the mistake of forming too close of an emotional bond with: Ward, Bobbi, Mack, and a couple others close friends who had betrayed her earlier in her life, when she was less experienced. Like the girl in Bahrain. She had trusted (and slept with) Ward, but he turned out to be Hydra. She had trusted Bobbi and Mack, and while she still saw them both as very close friends, they had also surprised her with their mutiny. Bahrain was self-explanatory. 

Now, after years of hard earned experience, she was careful not to get too close to anyone that she didn't trust completely. She trusted her parents, Phil, Daisy, and perhaps FitzSimmons, but she knew that those two kids had gone through so much recently that their behavior could easily become irrational. Mack was slowly earning her trust back, and Deke was, well, he was still stuck in the 'Not sure if I hate you or not' phase. May had no reason not to trust YoYo, but she was still wary. The biggest wild card were the new recruits. She had to trust the kids on her team with her life, but she had yet trust them in everyday life. Plus, they were just kids (despite the fact that they were fully grown adults, they were newbies in the field, and that's all that mattered). 

Many of the members of her STRIKE team had been lost by the time the team had disappeared into the future. In fact, she had assumed them all dead until they found Piper with the alien device. And then Piper had betrayed the team, betrayed her. And even though May had forgiven the girl, trust was something she had yet to regain. Out of all of the new recruits, she had the most potential, but she was still inexperienced and vulnerable. But nevertheless, May could still read her. In all honesty, Piper was easier to read than most of the other team. She had less practice in hiding her emotions, and so she seemed to wear her heart on her sleeve, even if May was the only person who could see it. 

\------

A few weeks after the whole 'General Hale tricked the team and Elena lost her arms' ordeal when Piper was allowed back into the field. She would have been back in action much earlier, but in the end it was by May's insistence, not Piper's, that convinced Coulson. If May didn't know better, she would have thought that Piper didn't want back in the field. But that couldn't have been the case, not when the younger agent was so desperate to prove herself.

May filed away her concern for another time and joined the team in the hanger. There Daisy, FitzSimmons, Phil, and Piper had gathered in front of a Quinjet. FitzSimmons and Coulson weren't going, but they were there for the briefing. Mack and YoYo were still off duty as she acclimated to her new arms, which meant that the mission would just be Piper, Daisy, and May. That probably wouldn't be a problem, seeing as it was just a simple fact finding mission. In all honesty, the chances of combat were slim, perfect for a first mission back, in May's opinion. Piper, on the other hand, didn't seem to thing so.

"Sir, are you absolutely sure you need me on this mission?" 

"Yes, Piper. I'm absolutely sure. I was under the impression that you wanted to get back into the field to prove yourself. Am I mistaken?"

"No, of course not sir. I'm sorry. I promise I'll prove myself sir." 

"Good. Now is everyone ready to go?"

Coulson was met with a thumbs up from Daisy and a nod from Piper. May just walked into the Quinjet. 

"Perfect. Good luck. Keep in touch"

"Yes sir" Piper and Daisy chorused as they followed May onto the Quinjet. 

\-----

Soon enough the team of three were in the air, May and Piper in the cockpit and Daisy at the communication station. May had been watching Piper closely, and something was obviously not right. Since May wasn't sure whether her blatant anxiety was due to the mission or May's presence, the older agent was hesitant to start any conversation that might make the girl worse. She was glad, then, when Piper was the first to speak up.

"I'm sorry I questioned Coulson. It was stupid and disrespectful and I should have known better." Piper muttered, picking at her nails. May hesitated in answering. She knew the more Piper talked, the more she would give away about what she was feeling. In the end, she decided on a simple-

"You know we've all forgiven you, right?"

"Yeah, I do, but..."

"You haven't forgiven yourself."

"Well yeah, but..." Piper trailed off, glancing at May. Once it was obvious that the older agent wasn't going to respond, she continued, "I know you guys don't trust me." she muttered. "Not that you should, I mean, I don't trust myself, but I... I dunno." 

"Ah. So that's why you don't want to go on the mission." That explained everything for May. It made so much sense now.

"Yeah. I know it's stupid, but on this kind of mission everyone is left to be their own devices, you know? We all have a job to do and we all split up." Piper bit her lip and continued furiously picking at her nails.

"It's not stupid, it makes perfect sense. You don't trust yourself to make the right call if things go awry. You're not the only one who has had that feeling."

"You?" 

"After Bahrain, I didn't want anywhere near a weapon. I didn't trust myself in the field. I was on administration duty for years until Coulson talked me into flying the Bus. That's why I say if I need a gun, I'll take one. So I only shoot people if it's the only option." May hadn't taken her eyes off the sky, but she could still see Piper's bewildered expression.

"You could never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it. I don't know the whole story of Bahrain, but I know enough to know it wasn't your fault."

"I know that now, but back then I was certain I couldn't be trusted to be left alone. It's the same now Piper. I have faith in your skills. I may not trust you completely, but you have to remember that I trust very, very few people. And I do trust that you can make the right call if need be. I wouldn't have put you on this mission if I didn't think you could handle it."

"What if I mess up and somebody dies, May? What if I end up betraying all of you again to some random corrupt US General? I don't think I could handle it." 

May could tell that Piper was panicking. The more this escalated, the larger the chance that the girl actually messed up in the field. 

"Then you mess up. And we work from there. You won't betray us, at least not on purpose. I've told other agents this before, and I think you need to hear it. All of your past experiences, no matter the trauma and scars they bring, can all provide valuable knowledge and skills in the form of experience if you let them. Use your experience, Piper, don't fear it."

Piper didn't answer for a long time. May patiently waited, allowing the young agent to process her words. She knew that it was important that every agent, every person, who had been through trauma heard that message. People can, and should, be hurt by trauma, but they have to move on and one good way is to use it. Life has a funny way of turning everything into an important lesson. 

"Do you really think I can do it? I don't just mean this mission, it's just a simple recon mission, I was being a tad over-dramatic. I mean, like, on full out combat missions. Can I do it?" 

"I truly believe that you can do anything you set your mind to. I know that sounds like something a cheesy mom would tell their kid before graduation, but I mean it. You're a good kid Piper." May finally turned her gaze to Piper. The agent smirked at her, nodding her acceptance.

"I'm 32" Piper retorted. May rolled her eyes and almost smiled, looking back at the clouds. 

"Still a kid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently the only way I can end a fic is with a slightly snarky one-liner. Anyway...  
Comment pls!

**Author's Note:**

> I appreciate critiques and comments!! Pls


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